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Financial services regulation

Providing practical and expert advice across the full range of financial services regulation

 

The pace of change in financial services continues. To face these changes and the increasingly complex challenges of doing business in a highly regulated environment, you need lawyers who are thought leaders, on top of the latest developments and leading debate on new regulation.

We've played a leading role in shaping New Zealand’s new legislative and regulatory frameworks. We have excellent relationships with the Financial Markets Authority (FMA), Ministry of Business, Innovation & Employment (MBIE), Reserve Bank and NZX. We influence the law by engaging with officials, making submissions on regulatory change and obtaining class and individual exemptions to suit clients’ circumstances.

Our regulatory experts advise across the entire financial services industry on:

  • Financial Markets Conduct Act, Financial Service Providers (Registration and Dispute Resolution) Act, and the financial advisers regime including changes under the Financial Service Legislation Amendment Act (FSLAA)
  • conduct regulation by the FMA from the 2018 and 2019 Reserve Bank and FMA reviews of bank and insurer conduct, and prudential regulation by the Reserve Bank of non-bank deposit takers and insurers
  • application of financial services regulation to new products and new delivery channels, including payment systems and other fintech offerings
  • anti-money laundering and countering financing of terrorism regulation
  • licensing requirements, transitional procedures, exemption applications, regulatory, compliance programmes and documentation
  • engaging with regulators to influence the regulatory landscape.
  • Advising a number of New Zealand’s largest banks, wealth managers, discretionary investment managers and derivatives issuers on licensing, compliance, documentation and governance in response to what has been described as a "once in a generation" rewrite of New Zealand’s securities law. We are working closely with many clients on their transition to compliance with new financial advice provider licensing and disclosure requirements under the changes to the financial advice regime brought about by FSLAA.
  • Advising financial service providers on the full range of legislation governing their operations, including the Financial Advisers Act and FSLAA, Financial Service Providers (Registration and Dispute Resolution) Act, anti-money laundering laws, insurer prudential supervision laws and non-bank deposit taker laws.
  • Acting on a number of significant investigations into the behaviours of banks and insurance companies and advising on the Financial Markets (Conduct of Institutions) Bill.
  • Assisting a number of organisations with their submissions to MBIE and the Ministry for the Environment as part of the consultations on climate-related financial disclosure. Submitting to MBIE on changes required to the latest tax amendment Bill to allow for transition of disclosure of the latest PIE tax changes and to amend mandatory disclosure statements to allow for the legislative changes and on a range of other regulatory change consultations, including the Financial Markets (Conduct of Institutions) Bill.
  • Advising on acquisitions and restructurings of financial services businesses, covering both commercial and regulatory requirements associated with such transactions.
Ranked Tier One for financial services, investment funds, and banking and finance work.Chambers Asia Pacific 2024 | Legal 500 Asia Pacific 2024

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